


Nico, Will, and the Giant Statue That Ruined Our Canoe Date

by olivemartini



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Romance, Trials of Apollo spoilers, hidden moment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-10
Updated: 2016-08-10
Packaged: 2018-08-07 19:30:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7726909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/olivemartini/pseuds/olivemartini
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You know how when the giant statue invaded camp halfblood, Nico and Will were swimming around in the lake because they got knocked out of the canoe?  This is what I think should have been happening right before that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nico, Will, and the Giant Statue That Ruined Our Canoe Date

Will decided he needed a break.

If they're being completely honest about it, Will was on the edge of a nervous break down (because hello, god of a father made human and almost getting himself killed coupled with another impending apocalypse isn't good for anyone's stress levels) and Nico decided they should get away for a little bit.  And there weren't really many places for them to hide at camp, considering that sneaking off into the woods has become completely out of the question, and if they stayed out in the open some camper would inevitably come up with a question or concern or injury that needed Will's attention.  It wasn't like he was complaining- it was nice to be needed, to be depended on by people- but Will just wanted a moment to catch his breath.

Nico was good at letting him do that.  People sometimes find him scary, with the darkness and ghosts and shadows hanging around him like a weird aura, but Will found it a welcome reprieve.  It was like when you have a migraine and the only way to stop the pounding in your head was to close all the blinds and shut out all the noise.  Nico kind of worked like that- a safe spot to rest until all the aching went away.  So when Will's fingers wouldn't stop trembling (surgeons needed steady hands) and he started to spend over thirty seconds staring into empty air before noticing that someone had been talking to him, Nico declared that it was time for a canoe ride.

It was probably a strange thing to do, considering that the camp was prone to having random disasters that needed Will's attention, his dad was off doing some possibly life threatening quest (and really, Will knew he was a god, but Apollo seemed pretty damn helpless to him), and two of his siblings were in danger.  But Will knew he couldn't help them, couldn't stop them from happening, so even though he would like to charge into battle or reattach some limbs, letting Nico grab him by the hand and pull him towards the canoes seemed like a good second option.  Especially when Nico didn't mind that Will wasn't up to talking, just let the canoe drift across the lake water, their knees occasionally bumping together.

"It's just weird, you know?  Like, I spent all these years praying to him, trying to be good enough to be noticed, and then he crash landed in the middle of our camp."  The words sounded funny in his mouth, and Will was aware that just to think them was some sort of blasphemy against the gods.  And yet.  "I'm older than him, and obviously better at the whole staying alive thing, and it's just not right to have the immortal being you've spent your childhood dreaming of impressing show up and be a whiny two year old who isn't as brilliant as he thinks he is."

Nico didn't say anything, just watched him.  His eyes were pretty, Will thought absently, making a mental note to tell him that later.  Such a pretty grey. 

"And Kaylah and Austin were all over him, never mind that I'm the one who's been checking up on the them, remembering birthday's and presents on the holidays and who likes what.  Don't I get any credit for that?"  He sounds like a petulant baby, a whiner, a narcisstic brat, and thinks that maybe he is related to Apollo, after all.  "I just wanted things to slow down for once, but here we are, wrapped up in this mess all over again."

"You're allowed to freak out."  Nico's entire leg was pressed against Will's now, a reassuring presence.  Without noticing it, Will's legs had stretched out to invade Nico's space.  He tends to do that a lot, just become a human octopus content to let himself fill every bit of the space that surrounds Nico, but he never seemed to fight it.  "It's not exactly a normal situation you're in."

Will hates when Nico says "you" or "me", like suddenly the two of them are two separate things, when in Will's head they've become so entangled there was no finding which part of his brain was what Will thought and which part was what Nico wanted.  "I'm not going to freak out."

"Okay."  And it was okay.  Everything was okay when Nico was there.  "Do you want to go back?  Since you're not, you know, freaking out?"

"I didn't say that."  There was an easy grin on Will's face now, but Nico's shoulders were tense.  "Are you ready to go back?"

"No. no, of course not.  I just, there's so much going on, I didn't want to keep you away from everyone.  But you looked like you needed a breather."  There was probably an underlying plea of _sometimes I forget that you're willing to make time for me, I want to tell you what I feel but I'm still not sure how_ but frankly, Will didn't have time for dealing with that on top of everything else, no matter how bad of a boyfriend that makes him.  It's not like they haven't been working on that for the past six months, anyways. 

"I did.  Need to breathe."  And then, because Will makes it a habit not to pass up on a good opportunity when he sees one, he adds, "That's always easy to do around you."

Nico smiled (his real smile, not the one that resembles a wild animal baring it's teeth.  "I kinda love you."

It was the first time either of them had said it out loud (for real, just between the two of them, even though Will thinks the sentiment has been poring out of him every second they're together), and Will really hopes that Nico knows the panicked expression on his face is because of the giant naked statue that's appeared behind him and not because he's afraid of commitment.

 

*

 

"What are we doing?"

The infirmary was crowded, full of sneezing and coughing and more than a little complaining, but Nico and Will were currently huddled in the supply closet. Nico had seemed to be recovering from his shadow travel ordeal, though Will had force fed him Gatorade (yes, Nico, it has to be orange, Gatorade doesn't come in emo flavoring) and ordered him not to use any underworld related powers for at least a week.  "Taking a breather."

Nico wasn't looking him in the eye, just sort of bouncing around like a caged animal looking for an escape.  "Okay, breather over then." He turned to go, Will stopping him with a quick grab to the wrist.  "Will.  Let go."

It's nice, to be able to hold onto the prince of the underworld and not have an army of skeletons set on him.  Will doesn't think there are very many people that would have been so lucky.  "I just needed to tell you something."

"Yeah?"

"I kinda love you, too."

 

**Author's Note:**

> Someone please give me a better title.  
> Please.


End file.
